Changing The Code
by Hallow Sisters On My Mind
Summary: Esmerelda is forced to say sorry after she breaks the Witches Code but can the girl change some problems with said code? WW 2017. Oneshot.


A/N: I wrote this ages and ages ago and then forgot about it completely, I am not sure about the ending on this one but here you go anyway. I do not own the Worst Witch or the characters.

* * *

 **Changing The Code**

Today was a typical day at Cackle's Academy for Witches apart from the fact the school was receiving a visit from The Great Wizard. Last year's visit had being an disaster because Ada had nearly lost her school to Agatha, and Mildred and Enid were nearly killed, so this year everyone was hoping that nothing like this would occur.

After the introductions the Great Wizard was touring the castle looking for anything that he was not happy with, anything he had to discuss with Miss Cackle. He walked into the hall and saw three students.

All were blonde and he remembered from last year's visit that two of them were sisters but he had never seen the younger one before. He stopped just inside the doorway as the pupils seemed to be having some sort of serious discussion.

"I still can't believe you are letting me keep it" the middle girl, Ethel said looking at the tallest girl.

"You deserve it Ethie, you did save my life and showed bravery" Esmie said smiling at her little sister warmly.

"Can I have something Esmie?" the youngest girl, Sybil asked.

"Not yet Sybil, you have to earn it" Esmerelda said to her youngest sister. She did not want to give it to them for no reason.

"But I doubt I will ever get an opportunity to save you from a collapsing building" Sybil replied.

"You don't have to do that Sybil, you are not ready for the responsibility yet" Esmerelda told her sister. The youngest girl was currently running around and Esmerelda knew it was not right to give Sybil something so important, not yet. She was not sensible enough yet. She would probably end up breaking it within minutes.

Sybil frowned but did not seem to fazed by her not getting a gift as well. The Great Wizard suddenly appeared in front of the three girls.

"Oh your greatness, well met" Esmerelda said touching her forehead and doing the famous gesture that witches are known for.

"Well met" Ethel said copying her sister. Sybil was skipping around her sisters not seeming to of noticed who was stood there.

"Sybil" Esmie hissed quietly "Come here and greet the Great Wizard" Esmerelda said. Sybil looked up and noticed him and ran over to stand next to Ethel.

"Well met" Sybil said politely and Esmerelda put her hand on her youngest sister's shoulder, knowing she could barely ever stay still and placed her other hand on Ethel's not wanting either of them to move.

"Very nice to see you girls, how is everything going?" The wizard asked as he knew last year had not being so great.

"Everything is great right now your greatness" Esmerelda replied politely. As Esmie spoke Ethel absent-mindedly fiddled with the locket around her neck not paying much attention.

"Well that is good to.." the wizard stopped speaking suddenly as he noticed the locket, it is true students were not supposed to wear jewellery except a watch but that was not why he was staring at it.

"That locket...that is an heirloom isn't it?" he asked sending Ethel out of her thoughts. Ethel looked up at the man with an gulp.

"Y...Yes your greatness...it is the Hallow family locket" Ethel said suddenly feeling scared. She knew she as an middle child was not supposed to have it.

"You are not the eldest child" he said glancing at Esmerelda for an second before he carried on speaking "Why do you have that locket?" he asked Ethel.

"Well...I..." Ethel said

"Did you take that locket from your sister?" he asked Ethel knowing the girl was an magnet for trouble.

"No I didn't I swear..." Ethel said shaking her head.

"Stealing an heirloom is really too far this time" The Grand Wizard said angrily.

"I promise I did not do it" Ethel said growing upset. Esmie could sense her sister was getting upset and knew it was time to tell the truth.

"Ethie did not take the locket, I gave it to her" Esmie told the great wizard him not wanting Ethel to get into trouble.

"I beg you pardon" the wizard said shifting his gaze to look at the eldest blonde "You do not get to just decide to give heirlooms away" he said staring at her.

"I...I want Ethie to have it..." Esmie replied.

The Great Wizard looked at her for an moment before he came to his senses.

"You two go now" he said talking to Ethel and Sybil. He knew he had to speak to the girl alone.

"What are you going to do to Esmie?" Sybil asked also growing upset.

"Go on you two, I will catch you up soon" Esmie told them as the two youngest girls reluctantly left. Once they were out of earshot the Great Wizard started.

"Miss Hallow as headgirl I thought you would take more pride in following the witches code" he started telling her off.

"Yes I know I broke the code but...well Ethie deserves that locket" Esmie said trying to reason with him.

"You do not get to make the rules, I do, you are the eldest and everything belongs to you, you can't just give the stuff to other people" The Great Wizard said.

"But it is not like I gave it to some random girl on the street, it is still in the Hallow family" Esmerelda told him not understanding what she had done that was so bad.

"The witches code is there for an reason, you do not get to pick and choose what rules to follow, therefore the locket will be returned to you" The Great Wizard told her firmly.

"No! I gave it to Ethie" Esmie replied knowing Ethel would be really upset if she had to return it. Plus she had already promised it to the younger blonde.

"I do not care, she is the middle child that is your locket" he told her trying to end the discussion.

"The code...the code is wrong" Esmerelda very bravely said. She knew she could get expelled for such an comment but she was fed up of this man telling her off for something so trivial.

"THE CODE IS NEVER WRONG" he shouted. Esmerelda took an breathe telling herself not to appear intimated.

Esmeralda looked down not replying to his comment.

"The way you break the code so casually is appalling" the man said surprised at the pupils lack of care for the code.

"I suppose I will be expelled?" Esmerelda said knowing questioning the code or the Great Wizard was never a good thing.

The Great Wizard was a lot of things but he really was not stupid. He knew that the school needed good pupils and maybe Esmerelda had broken the code but her grades were exceptional compared to the other students.

"No. But you will apologise in front of the whole school and give an speech about the importance of the code" he told her. Esmerelda looked at him and nodded with an sigh. What would be the point in fighting him about it?

* * *

It was hours later and Esmerelda was sat at the back of the stage reading over the speech she had written about how the code is good and should never be disobeyed trying to steady her nerves.

"I am such an idiot" Esmie suddenly heard Ethie say as her and Sybil appeared backstage to support their sister.

"No you are not, you did nothing wrong Ethie" Esmie said hugging her sister as she did not blame her.

"I am I should have kept it hidden" Ethel replied with an sigh.

"You have the right to wear an locket if you want to" Esmie said sticking up for her. Right now the eldest girl hated the stupid code.

"Are you really going to apologise in front of the school?" Sybil asked looking at the eldest.

"I have too" Esmie said with an sigh wishing it was all over. Miss Bat appeared in front of the sisters.

"It is time for your speech" the older woman said smiling sadly at her pupil. She liked Esmerelda a lot and knew she was only in this situation because of the unfair treatment of her sisters.

"We best go find our seats" Sybil said running out the room. Ethel paused before taking the little locket off that had caused the trouble and sadly putting it in her sister's hand.

"We should have known I could not have it" Ethel said with an small smile as she walked away.

Esmie looked at the locket in her hand sadly. It was an beautiful locket which was still shining silver after all these years, on the front was an fancy H showing it was special. Esmerelda gently placed the locket in her pocket and then went with Miss Bat as she was introduced. She could not help pulling an face from what the introduction was.

* * *

"The reason your headgirl has to apologise is because she has broken the witches code and shows the code no respect, let this be an lesson to you all, you do not get to pick and choose what rules you follow" he said as Esmerelda waited bored out of her mind as he droned on and on.

Finally she heard her name and made her way to the podium hearing people whispering. The whole school was sat their watching most trying to figure out why she had to apologise in the first place.

"I still don't understand what the fuss is, it is just a stupid locket" Mildred said to her friends Maud and Enid quietly.

"It is an family heirloom" Enid replied simply.

"She is not allowed to give it to Ethel" Maud said not elaborating

"Who cares who she gives it to, they are sisters it is not like she decided to give it to Agatha Cackle" Mildred replied failing to understand the situation.

"You three at the front quiet!" Hecate said. The teachers including the Great Wizard were sat on the stage watching. Esmerelda walked up to the podium and took the piece of paper out of her pocket.

"I am here today because I gave my little sister Ethie an locket, this is not just any old locket it is the family locket, an heirloom, and because of this I broke the code which is never okay so I should apologise" Esmerelda started by saying.

She paused reading what she had written and realised it was all rubbish. It was all talking about the brilliance of the code but none of the disadvantages of the code was written. As headgirl Esmerelda had to be honest, she had to stand up for pupils and what was right. She would not lie to them, she couldn't.

"But I will not apologise" Esmerelda said carrying on. The Great Wizard turned towards her shocked she was still going against him.

"I will not lie any longer. What kind of headgirl would I be if I told you all the wrong information? The witches code is a great thing, it keeps us safe and stops us coming to serious harm, but the code has flaws, big flaws" Esmerelda said. Pupils spoke amongst each other not sure whether to think the girl was brave or stupid. By this point the Great Wizard had stood up and was glaring at the girl.

"The code your greatness says I should not even treat either of my sisters with respect, my sisters have no rights or respect and all because I happened to be born first, I have seen first hand how much the code hurts people" Esmerelda carried on her speech blanking the wizard needing to get it out this was after all was what most witches thought.

"The code makes people selfish and greedy, and it causes them to have no confidence in themselves, younger siblings are pushed aside and made to feel second best, this is mentally terrible for a child. Eventually they start acting up and sometimes their jealousy gets so bad they end up totally losing themselves like Agatha Cackle" Esmerelda went on using the woman as a example knowing the code had a big part in her losing her way.

"And the code allows some other people to experience prejudice" Esmie said glancing at Mildred slightly as she says it.

"The witches code nearly made me lose my sister, it was the code that made her jealous if she had been allowed the same chances as me there would be no need for jealousy, I am sorry your greatness I will not apologise the code is outdated and it is ruining lives" Esmerelda finished.

For an while after she finished there was silence. No-one dared to speak until Ethel stood up and everyone in the hall turned to look at her.

"She is right you know, the code has always made me feel worthless and second best" Ethel admitted to everyone not caring anymore.

"And the code has made me feel like I cannot do anything right because I am not from an witching family" Mildred said as she stood up as well.

Student after student stood up all saying something that they did not like about the code. And then they started to chant.

"FIX THE CODE, FIX THE CODE" Mildred started by saying. One by one pupils stood up joining in the protest until the hall was fall of chants of fix the code. The Great Wizard watched the girls his face turning more scarlet by the second.

"ENOUGH" the Great Wizard shouted causing the pupils to sit down and fall silent.

"The code has served witches for thousands of years and never once have the being complaints" the wizard said not realising the witches even then probably hated the code too but were to terrified to speak up.

"But the world is completely different now, some of the rules don't make sense anymore" Esmie told him not giving up. She wanted the man to listen and not just brush aside the problems of the code.

"I really do think she has an point your greatness" Ada said suddenly appearing next to her star pupil. "Change is sometimes good, no-one is saying the code is a bad thing but maybe it is time to try and make every child feel valued" Ada told him putting her hands on her head-girls shoulders. She knew it was time for some changes.

Realising how many people were against the code the wizard realised maybe it would not hurt to look into it. He knew everyone was against him after all and if he did not listen they would only rebel against the code.

"Maybe the code does need reviewing" he said looking at the headgirl who smiled at the idea for once other students might get valued. For once people might not have to suffer in silence. She knew he said he was only looking into it but she had hope.

"You are still in trouble you know" he told her causing her smile to drop slightly.

* * *

It was a month later and things were looking up. The code still existed but some rules had changed. The eldest no longer inherited everything, things were passed down to the child who earned it and there was now rules in place that all siblings had to be treated as individuals, no-one was allowed to see Ethel and Sybil as just Esmerelda's little sister's anymore. Pupils like Mildred benefited too as an new rule was that all witches from outside the witching community must be taught the rules and regulations of witching life and were able to ask when they did not know about something.

For once things were looking up and Esmie happily walked with her sisters, Ethie twirling her locket in her fingers an habit she had picked up. She was now allowed to keep the locket and no-one could take that away from her.

"I still can't believe you changed the code" Sybil said happily skipping down the corridors.

"We all did not just me" Esmie replied. Sure she was the one who had spoken up but she could not have done it alone.

"Girls" someone said behind them they turned and saw their mother who was there for a parents night at the school for Sybil.

"MUM" Sybil shouted as she ran to her mother. Esmie went and greeted her mother too but Ethie stood alone twirling the locket trying to think of an way to sneak off. She was slowly walking towards the staircase when she heard someone talk behind her.

"Come on Ethel what are you waiting for?" her mother said.

Ethel realised her mother was calling her over and Ethel walked to her as she kissed and hugged her greeting her middle child just like her sisters. Ethel was highly confused and did not know how long this new act would last but right now she beamed with happiness at being included.

Esmeralda smiled. Ethel had not managed to memorise all the new rules yet but as she was the one to speak out the Grand Wizard had allowed Esmie to make suggestions for new rules and she made two important ones.

*No favouritism between children

*All children involved and treated in an loving way

Her mother had to love Ethel. True she had no choice and probably still did not really care for her middle daughter but it still warmed Esmie to see her sister so happy. That had been her plan all along to change the code for her sisters' and classmates happiness. An adult could not break the code as it mostly led to losing their powers or prison so even though Mr and Mrs Hallow might hate it they finally had to treat Ethel with respect.

Esmerelda looked around seeing her sisters happy and Mildred Hubble looking a lot more happy now that she understood the world she was living in and Esmerelda knew it had all being worth it.


End file.
